


Haikyuu!!: Reaching New Heights

by dashiudon



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Continuation, Near Future, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dashiudon/pseuds/dashiudon
Summary: Hinata and Kageyama are in their second year of high school at Karasuno. As Karasuno enters a new golden age of their boy's volleyball team, they face new challenges with new allies and new opponents, but with the same goal: to win. How will the duo and the rest of Karasuno reach the top and aim for new heights?-----------This story includes original characters and storylines, but will be based strictly off the canon in the manga and anime, both pre- and post-time skip.
Kudos: 8





	1. Karasuno is Evolving

_And to round out our volleyball teams to watch out for in the 2013 Interhigh tournament, we have one of the Top 8 from last year’s spring nationals, Karasuno High School. Washio-san, who are the players to watch from this team?_

_Well, Omori-san, the first pick would definitely be their setter: Kageyama Tobio. It wouldn’t be outrageous to say that the Karasuno team last year would have been an average team without his setting skills. He was selected for the All-Japan Youth Training Camp last year, and for good reason. He has almost inhumane accuracy, and all his skills both offensively and defensively are top tier for a high school player._

_I saw a Karasuno match last year. Kagayama-kun was the type of player that would scare even those who don’t know anything about volleyball — something rare for a setter! Who else from Karasuno has caught your eye?_

_Their libero is superb as well._

_Ah, yes, Nishinoya-kun. He is unbelievably quick, even for a libero._

_Yes, he has much skill. He is one of the best diggers at a high school level. Though excellent individually, he was also supported heavily by the former captain of their squad. I’d like to see him step up as the defensive leader in the team._

_Yes, that’s correct. Give us one more pick, Washio-san._

_Karasuno’s inclusion in the nationals was such a surprise, so all of their team members deserve a special nod. However, they have one player who can only work on a team like Karasuno. My last pick is —_

“EY HINATA! Stop replaying that interview! We need to get to the gym already.”

“I can’t help it, Kageyama! It’s so cool! I was mentioned as “someone to look out for”!” Hinata jumped off the ground and tried to put the headphones on Kageyama. The setter slapped his hand and the headphones away.

“I’ve listened to the interview, stupid. They only picked you cause you were the shortest middle blocker they’d ever seen!” Hinata leapt to attack him, but Kageyama just placed his hand on Hinata’s head to keep his swings from connecting. The club room’s door opens and the third years enter.

“Oy, you two should get to the gym now! Coach Ukai is gonna give you extra dolphin dives if you don’t” Nishinoya warns, already halfway undressed to change into his training gear.

“How about you get into the room first before taking off your uniform?” Ennoshita rolls his eyes at Nishinoya. “Anyway, Yuu’s right. Get to the gym so you can help the first years set up the court. They probably don’t know the right height for the net yet.”

“Yes, captain!” Hinata screams.

“Just cause you guys got mentioned on that dumb radio show, doesn’t mean you guys get to slack off, you hear me?” Tanaka chimes in.

Hinata and Kageyama grab all their gear and race to the gym.

—————

“Nice set, Kageyama!” Coach Ukai screams as the ball makes a satisfying thud on the floor.

“That’s unfair. The ball landed almost at the attack line! Did you see that Imai-chan?” Kinoshita says to a smaller boy to his right.

“Yeah, that’s Tai-chan for you,” the smaller boy replied.

Haku Taiki, a first year, lands with authority on the floor and screams in delight, “That set was perfect, Kageyama-senpai!” He celebrates more by high-fiving his teammates Tanaka and Narita. They were currently in a practice match at the end of training.

“That set was incredible!” The smaller setter on the other side of the court squeals. He comes closer to Kageyama and rapidly fired questions. “How did you do that? Did you know Haku-chan would come in that fast? How did you adjust to the bad pass by Hinata-senpai? Where did you —“

“Yoshi-kun, the game isn’t over,” Yamaguchi interrupts.

“Oh, right. Sorry! It’s just that Kageyama-senpai’s set was so perfect!” The first-year Yoshida goes back to his place.

“Hey, don’t I get any credit?” Haku chimes in. Before Yoshida could make a comeback, Haku turns back and shouts, “Shinji, did you see that? That was so good! I feel like if I did that all the time, I’ll be in Team Japan in no time!”

Shinji, the boy on the bench with Kinnoshita, just laughs at the comment and the game resumes. It ends with Haku and Kageyama’s team winning 25-22. After one more round of free spiking, the training ends and everyone starts to gather the balls.

“Agh! Haku-chan’s unfair!” Hinata screams as he wheels the ball cart.

Kageyama tosses two balls in the cart and replies, “He’s 190 cm, you’re barely 165 cm. He’s better than you at spiking, blocking, serving —“

“I get it!” Hinata shouts. “How can he be so good? He’s a first year.”

“Well,” Yamaguchi joins in as he and Tsukishima pick up balls as well, “he’s from a powerhouse school in Tochigi. Other schools who were in the Nationals like Senami High and Chikuida High were interested in him, too. I heard even Fukurodani invited him to their open practices.”

Their eyes shift to the tall first year across the court. They didn’t think such powerhouse players would want to go to Karasuno shortly after their nationals stint. Karasuno wasn’t even an athletics-centered school, yet they had over twenty incoming first years try out for the team. Most were aspiring volleyball players, just skilled enough to keep up in training, but didn’t really have anything special about them. Coach Ukai announced that the final line-up would only have 14 members, and all the rejects would have to be sidelined in practice if they wanted to continue playing volleyball at Karasuno. In the end, they chose five first years to be part of the team: Haku Taiki, Yoshida Toshiro, Imai Shinji, Sugita Kouta and Maekawa Hibiki.

“Interhigh is in two weeks, and it’s obvious that Haku-kun already has the other starting wing spiker position locked in,” Kageyama coldly points out. He only mentioned this because a few months ago, Hinata asked Coach Ukai to convert him to a wing spiker. Unfortunately for Hinata, the starting wing spikers for Karasuno will probably be Tanaka, Ennoshita and Haku.

Hinata stayed quiet for a few seconds, let out a sigh and said, “Haku will definitely score many points for Karasuno.” Yamaguchi and Kageyama were taken aback. “But,” Hinata continues, “if he’s 25 cm taller than me, that just means I have to train 25 times as hard!”

Before Kageyama could comeback at Hinata, Coach Ukai called him over. He left the cart with Hinata and ran off.

“Hey, Kageyama. You should practice with Haku more. He’s been adjusting to your sets, which are the ones you usually give to Tanaka,” Ukai explained. Kageyama felt embarrassed that Coach Ukai had to point out that the freshman was the one adjusting to him.

He had only been training with the freshmen a few weeks. He hadn’t been attending practices because he was chosen to remain in Japan’s U-19 squad, which meant he spent nearly a month in Tokyo training with other prominent high school talents. He knew that Haku had the highest chance to be picked from the other people at Karasuno. He was almost as tall as Tsukishima, but he was a wing spiker. Though he struggles with hitting down the line, his cross court hits were even more powerful than Azumane’s from the year before. The kid was an offensive talent, and his defense improves after every training. 

Ukai called Haku next and the freshman went quickly to his coach as Kageyama walked away. “Nice work in training today, but you really need to learn to vary your shots when you get a perfect set from Kageyama. Try using a feint…” Ukai explains as Haku dutifully nods his head. Kageyama had noticed that the other freshman were skilled, too, but the only other one that he kept at eye on was the new setter. 

Yoshida Toshiro wasn’t from a powerhouse school, but he won best setter in the Miyagi Middle School Spring Tournament in the previous year. He was invited by Aobajohsai and Wakutani South, but he’d already picked his high school from the moment he watched Karasuno’s match against Shiratorizawa in the prefectural qualifiers.

After locking up, Ennoshita locked up the gym and walked his way out the gates of the school, where Tanaka, Nishinoya, Haku, Imai and Yoshida waited for him. “Sorry for the wait,” Ennoshita said, announcing his presence. “Let’s get going.”

“Man, two years ago we were struggling to keep up with even the average teams,” Nishinoya said as the six of them walked home together. “Who knew that two years later we’d be good enough to attract talent like Haku-chan!” He slapped the first year’s back at the mention of his name and laughed out loud.

“I’m still learning!” Haku replied, brushing off the compliment.

“Why did you come to Karasuno anyway?” Nishinoya asked. “We know you got offers from other schools, even the big ones in Tokyo!”

“Taiki and I wanted to be on a strong team,” Imai replied calmly before Haku could let out a word.

“Yes, that’s true,” Haku nodded along. “We also have family in the area, so it was easier for us to come here rather than live by ourselves in Tokyo.”

“We’ve only been to Nationals once in such a long time,” Tanaka exclaimed. “’Til now that tournament felt like a dream. When you’re playing in it, it doesn’t even feel like you’re there.”

“Yeah, and now people have the audacity to call us a ‘strong team’,” Ennoshita added, scoffing.

 _Yeah, a strong team_ , Yoshida thought. As the seniors joked around about the past year, Yoshida couldn’t help but remember what made him choose Karasuno in the first place. He didn’t like being in the spotlight, but he liked volleyball and being on the team, which led him to become a setter.

Everything changed when he saw Kageyama. He was a setter who basked in the spotlight, whose subtleties in the game actually made his play more attractive. Every time Kageyama touched the ball, it felt like something amazing could happen, so all eyes were on him. Yoshida didn’t want the spotlight that Kageyama had, but he wanted skills that deserved the spotlight. He’s lucky he’s in Karasuno. He gets to train and play with his idol. He gets to play on a strong team that’s in the spotlight. He’s in the spotlight now, and he needs the skills to prove he deserves to be there.

“Ah, our houses are this way,” Imai said. Yoshida snapped back into the real world and bed farewell to the other first years.

As they walked, Ennoshita slowed down and stayed beside the freshman. “Yoshi-kun,” he whispered. “you don’t really talk much unless it’s asking Kageyama for advice. Your batch of first years aren’t as loud and reckless as the ones from last year, but don’t be shy. We’re a team now.” Ennoshita smiled at Yoshida.

Yoshida nodded, and smiled as well. Everyone at Karasuno has been friendly so far. Karasuno is a strong team. Yoshida is part of a strong team. He smiled at that fact and continued to walk with his teammates, listening to Tanaka tell a story about the twins in Inarizaki they faced at last year’s nationals.

– – – – – – – – – –

“Nice set!” Hinata shouted as he hits a very high ball set by Yoshida. Evening practice ended with free spiking again, and as usual, Hinata was jumping around and hitting as many balls as he could.

Coach Ukai looked at the court and sighed. “Yachi-kun, can I see the statistics from the practice games we played today and yesterday?” Ukai requested.

“Yes, sir!” Yachi pulled out a thich notebook, with dozens of colored papers sticking out the sides for bookmarking. She looked for the tab that said “Practice games”, opened the notebook and handed it to Ukai. “Is there something wrong, Ukai-sensei?” Yachi asked.

“You see, I’ve been playing Hinata as a wing spiker in a few games,” Ukai explained as he looked at the scores of each player. “Even if he played middle blocker last year, it might not be the best place for Hinata. At his height, he’s bound to hit a ceiling. Do you remember the little giant we played against last year at nationals?”

Of course Yachi remembered the white-haired boy, a few centimeters taller than Hinata. He was unbelievably talented, and even she knew something was special about him. Yachi nodded to answer Ukai’s question.

“Well, that’s what Hinata should be training to become,” Ukai continued. “He already started the evolution when he improved his defense last year. His jumping also matches that of a wing spiker. If I were only thinking about Hinata’s sake, I’d put him at wing spiker already.”

Yachi tip-toed and looked at the statistics Ukai was looking at. Hinata’s points in the game where he played wing spiker were almost the same as the points he scored when he played middle blocker.

“But,” Ukai explained further, “if I look at Karasuno now, we’re loaded with wing spikers. Other than Tanaka and Ennoshita, who have both offense and defense, we now have Haku. He’s too good on offense to leave out of the starting line-up. We even have another first year wing in Maekawa. There’s just no place for Hinata on the wings, and taking him out from the middle might hurt our offense. Narita isn’t bad but he doesn’t have the same connection with Kageyama as Hinata does. There’s also the first year middle Sugita, but he’s not ready yet. I also have to think about —” 

As Ukai rambled on, he looked at Yachi who stared at him deadpan, dazed and confused. “Ah, sorry,” Ukai apologized. “Karasuno is filled to the brim with talent now, and that’s both a blessing and a curse for a coach.”

“Hinata, jump higher!” Kageyama yelled after Hinata hit a ball that almost went out the court.

“Then I won’t reach it! I’m not as tall as Tsukishima!” Hinata yelled back as he marched to collect his ball at the sidelines.

Ukai took a look at his players again, then at the notebook. Karasuno is evolving again, and this time, he’s having trouble keeping up.

—————

“Yes, yes! Thank you, sir!” Takeda screamed as he hurriedly scribbled on his notebook. After putting the phone down, he hurriedly ran towards the gymnasium.

“Take this! Tanaka screamed as he rose up to hit an extreme cross court hit. Right as he jumped up, the doors to the gymnasium slammed open. It was Takeda-sensei. Distracted by the door’s thud, Tanaka’s hit goes awry, barely missing Takeda-sensei to the right. Tanaka runs to the door and continously bows to his teacher, who is now pale. “Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!”

“Takeda-sensei, do you have news?” Ukai asks as the rest of the team huddles around the sweaty teacher.

“Yes! I just booked our last practice match before Inter-high,” Takeda announces. The semi-circle of students tightens up into a huddle.

“Who is it? Who is it? Dateko? Nekoma? Wakutani?” Hinata rapid-fires. Kageyama beside him looks just as eager, but also nervous.

“Maybe it’s Aobajohsai again!” Tanaka exclaims.

“Yeah, I wasn’t there the last time we had a practice game against them!” Nishinoya chimes in. “Time for payback!”

“Didn’t we win last time?” Tsukishima says under his breath. Yamaguchi chuckles.

“We’re very luck that this school agreed to this game. They have quite a busy schedule,” Takeda says as the excitement among the players grew and grew. “We’re going to have a practice game against Shiratorizawa!”

The room erupts. “ORAAAAAA,” Tanaka and Nishinoya yell in unison. Hinata jumps up and down quickly behind them.

“Tch,” Kageyama shrugs and rolls his eyes.

“I heard the “Other Ace” from last year’s Shiratorizawa is in the U-19 training team now, too,” Yamaguchi whispers to Tsukishima. “Apparently, he and Kageyama don’t get along.”

“THE Shiratorizawa?” Shinji exclaims. He and the other first years look stunned.

“I didn’t think we’d have to face them so fast,” Taiki says with obvious fear in his voice. Yoshida beside him stares into space, trembling.

“Calm down,” Ukai says to everybody. “Shiratorizawa is a powerhouse school, and even without Ushijima, they are still a top team in the prefecture. We may have beat them last year, but they aren’t pushovers.”

The excitement and the fear in the air quickly turn into determination. 

“Let’s show them the new Karasuno,” Tanaka boasts, winding up his arm.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” Ennoshita says to everyone. “With this practice match, we’ll see if we’ve prepared enough for Interhigh.”

“Ennoshita is right,” Takeda joins in. The entire team comes back into the huddle. “We have a new team this year, but it’s time to show them that Karasuno is still a force to reckon with. You’ve practiced with each other and with the neighborhood team. We all know how skilled you all are. Now it’s time to show the world!”

“Now, Karasuno!” Ennoshita shouts.

“FIGHT!” The entire team answers in unison.

—————

“We have a practice game against Karasuno at the end of the week, so we’ll need to tighten up our defenses,” Shiratorizawa’s assistant coach explains as the players stand in line in front of him.

“Karasuno…” Goshiki says under his breath. Beside him, Shirabu hears Goshiki’s whisper. Both of them have scores to settle with Kageyama.

—————

Imai Shinji and Haku Taiki sat outside of a convenience store. They were waiting for the other first-years to buy their after-training snacks.

“Taiki, are you nervous for our first practice game against another school?” Shinji asked. He had to tilt his head upwards to even look Taiki in the eyes.

“Is it obvious?” Taiki replied. His entire 189 cm body was trembling lightly. “I mean, we’re going against SHIRATORIZAWA. I’m nervous as hell!”

“You have every right to be. You’re probably going to be a starter,” Shinji replied. He didn’t have any jealousy or malice in his voice. “You’ll do great, though.”

Taiki was shocked at how calm Shinji was. “Aren’t you nervous?” Taiki asked back.

“Of course I am,” Shinji replied immediately. “But, we’re in a strong team, and it’s a practice game. There’s nothing to lose!” He smiled. Yoshi, Kouta and Hibiki, the other first years, exited the convenience store with bags of snacks in their hand.

Imai Shinji was nervous, but not for himself. He knew he had no chance of actually playing in the practice game. He was nervous for Taiki.

The two of them played volleyball together in middle school, and despite playing the same position, it was clear that Taiki was the star. He didn’t only have the physical traits of a strong volleyball player, he also had the attitude of one. His friend was born to be an ace spiker.

As the five first-years walked together, Kouta and Hibiki both joked around with Taiki in front. Shinji and Yoshida stayed behind, both silently sipping on their juice boxes.

“Shinji-kun,” Yoshida suddenly breaks the silence. “We have to win against Shiratorizawa.” 

Shinji is stunned. Yoshida hasn’t talked to him outside of a game before, and the blunt remark caught him off-guard. He wondered why Yoshida would say that out of the blue.

He looks at Taiki again. As the two other first years were laughing, Taiki laughed just a little less. His face had wrinkles beside his eyes. He was very nervous. Shinji looks at Yoshida beside him. Suddenly, the practice match made Shinji nervous, too.

—————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Thank you for reading until the end of my first chapter! I aim to release new chapters for this work every few weeks, but my schedule is a little unpredictable, so please forgive me if I don't update as regularly as I want to! Please look forward to the continuation of my work! Next chapter: Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa.


	2. A Serious Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karasuno and Shiratorizawa face off in a practice match. With both teams having notable additions and new strategies, this showdown is blazing from the get-go. Which team gets ahead first?

“Everyone gather ‘round!” Ukai shouts after his team gets the gym ready for their practice match against Shiratorizawa. The team sits on the ground around Ukai’s whiteboard. “Interhigh is one week from today and this our last practice match before we get to the tournament. This is also the toughest practice match we’ve set up so far.” The mood of the entire team becomes more serious, and all of them try to put their game faces on. “I spoke to coach Washijo and we both agreed to use this practice math to prepare for real in-game situations, so we’ll be playing a more-or-less real three-set game,” Ukai explain further.

“Wow, so this isn’t just any practice match,” Tanaka reacts. As he says this, Imai Shinji looks over to his friend. Taiki looked even more stressed, but only Shinji could notice his tense energy.

“And just like any match, I want to go over our opponents today,” he says and gestures to Yachi. She hands him a clipboard with a few pieces of paper. Thanks to Karasuno’s entry to Nationals last year, they’ve been better connected with the major schools in boys’ volleyball, which allowed them to get scouting reports from other teams. Of course, this means other teams were looking at Karasuno as well.

“Shiratorizawa still heavily relies on their ‘simple is best’ concept, and even without Ushiwaka, they still have tall and powerful spikers in their roster. Kageyama, I’m sure you’re most aware of their new ace,” the coach coldly says to Tobio.

“Yes,” Kageyama responds. “Goshiki was impressive in the national training camp, and is sure to be the new ace of Shiratorizawa.” As he lets go of those words, his forehead wrinkled and his hands scrunched the ends of his shorts.

“He still specializes in straight hits, so make sure you adjust your blocks accordingly,” Ukai reminds. Tsukishima nods at the back. “Other than Goshiki, Shiratorizawa has recruited an impressive first year player named Kagawa Mamoru. We don’t know much about his play style, but his performance in middle school earned him the prefecture’s top wing spiker award last year. He’s around 185 cm and plays opposite.”

“I played against him in middle school,” Yoshida suddenly chimes in from the back. “I’m not sure how to explain how he attacks, but he puts his entire body into it. He pulls back like woop! Then he lets go and hits it like babam!” The entire team snickers a little bit. Their first year setter doesn’t speak much, so hearing him say words like “woop” and “babam” sounded hilarious.

“Ah, so like Mad Dog-chan from Seijoh!” Hinata blurts out.

“You understood ‘woop’ and ‘babam’?” Tsukki remarks.

“The first years learn so quickly,” Tanaka said, looking proud of the first year setter’s vocabulary.

“A 185 cm Mad Dog-chan,” Kageyama ponders. With this comment, the upperclassmen’s eyes widened.

“The point is,” Ukai settles them down, “Shiratorizawa is still very strong. Expect them to perform at a high level, and make sure you’re prepared for anything. They’ll be here in half an hour, so get warmed up!”

“Yes, coach!” They scream.

“Okay, laps around the court!” Ennoshita shouts as they walk to position. “Karasuno!”

“Fight!” The team screams again.

“Fight!” Taiki shouted, a little robotically. He lined up at the back, with Shinji right next to him, and jogged silently.

—————

Haku Taiki loved playing superhero. As a child, he created a superhero alias for himself: “Amazing Man”. He was never the tallest or the smartest, but he tried the hardest, and all the kids in his neighborhood followed his lead, including Imai Shinji.

Despite being average in height, Taiki had great power because he was dynamic. He didn’t only give his all mentally, but he gave his all physically, which made him a great athlete. Imai Shinji’s older brother was volleyball player in high school, so Shinji played volleyball, and he got Taiki to join, too.

They both went to Shirohama Middle School, a middle school known to produce top volleyball talents, and luckily enough both of them made the team. Taiki was a powerful spiker, but would get too worked up and fidgety to play defense well. He was only supposed to be a bench player for his first year.

In the prefectural finals of his first summer middle school volleyball tournament, his team went against a rising giant in the region, Hanazono Middle School. His team had already lost the first set, and was down 14 - 20 in the second set. All his teammates were dejected, and their team’s ace had just been totally blocked out by the tall Hanazono wall. Their coach called a timeout, and Taiki stood in the middle of all his teammates, clenching his fists as he frustratedly watched his team lose.

“Haku,” the coach said loudly, “I’m putting you in for Oginuma. Just do your best.” Taiki was stunned. He was getting subbed in for the first time, and in the prefectural finals of all games. He was nervous, but extremely excited.

“You can do it, Tai-chan!” Shinji said next to him. Taiki smiled, and prepared himself to go in the game.

He stepped on the court, and he was nervous. It’s his first time playing in a real game, and it’s in the finals! How was he going to help his team? They were too far behind! It was impossible.

Taiki got in position, and looked at the bench players at the back. Shinji was smiling at him, and gave a thumbs up. He closed his eyes and imagined his superhero alias “Amazing Man”. Amazing Man always wound up in tough spots, stuck in trees and battling tough river currents. Amazing Man would always summon his inner strength and get past any obstacle. All Taiki had to do was be Amazing Man

Taiki was glad Hanazono didn’t aim for him for the serve. As he watched the ball drift to their setter, he saw his other teammates run up for an attack. He started to do the same, but without even realizing it, he screamed, “Give me the ball!”

The entire team was stunned, but the setter heard his call, and tossed a high ball to the left towards Taiki. Taiki ran up, saw a triple block forming in front of him, gathered his jump, then leaped. As he was in the air, he couldn’t even think about where to hit it, or how to hit it. All he thought about was scoring. Amazing Man needed to save the day.

He wound up his swing, then let it rip. His hit went right through the blockers’ hands, towards the libero of the other team, but the power of his spike made the ball fly off the libero’s hands. He had just scored his first real point in a volleyball game.

The entire bench paused for a second, then Shinji leapt up and screamed “Tai-chan!” The rest of his teammates erupted as well, and so did the crowd. Taiki looked at his hand, then at all the people looking at him. He was ecstatic. He wanted this to go on forever, and he knew that the only way for that to happen is to score as many points as possible.

In the next rally, the setter tossed it to Taiki and he scored again. He scored point after point, and even if it wasn’t him, his scoring prowess had made him a good decoy as well. They eventually won the second set 27 - 25, then they also won the third set and went to the middle school national tournament.

He played his first year as a super substitute, contributing points whenever his team needed. He was promoted to a starter in his second year, and after a huge growth spurt in the off-season of that year, he became the ace of the team on his final year.

He was an ace through and through. His naturally muscular build even made him look like an ace. He racked up points, soaked up the praise. He was Amazing Man on court, even after he outgrew the alias. Even if he wasn’t doing well, all he had to do was think of the people who were counting on him to score the points, and he’d hit and hit and hit until he scores points again.

——————

As the two teams lined up on opposite ends of the court, Shinji looked at Haku beside him. His face was stern and serious, but his hands were trembling just the tiniest bit. He doubted anyone else would notice it, but he knew that Taiki had a lot going on his mind.

The two teams bowed, and met at center court. Shirotarizawa started their spiking drills first, and the team looked as powerful as before. Shirabu looked like he was still the main setter, and his simple sets were still effective and gave all his spikers many options to use mid-air.

“Hey,” Kageyama nudged Tsukishima as they stood beside each other for the digging drills Karasuno did at the end of the courts. “Look at Goshiki’s spike.”

Tsukishima was irked, as he was already observing their opponents, but he let it slide as he focused on the new ace of Shiratorizawa. His approach was still familiar, but as Goshiki leaped, he stayed in the air a split second longer than Tsukishima remembered he could. Goshiki’s jump now reminded him of Ushijima’s form last year. It wasn’t quite as perfect, but it was definitely improving. Finally, as Goshiki hit the ball down the line, it landed with more of a thud. Even his power has increased from the year before.

Yoshida saw the new first-year of Shiratorizawa on the other side of the court. Kagawa Mamoru’s height was imposing, and his body was on the thicker side. As Shirabu tossed him the ball, Yoshida noticed that the set was higher than the normal ones that the wings have been getting. The slight tempo difference allowed for Kagawa’s slow approach. As soon as he leaped in the air, he curved his back immediately and wound up intensely. He released all of the pent up energy as he slammed the ball down with authority.

“Would you look at that power?” Shinji said to Yoshida. He didn’t even notice Shinji was watching with him. He didn’t even notice Shinji was beside him at all, but Shinji said exactly what Yoshida was thinking. The spike was slow, but his stature and powerful spiking form were already formidable. The new setter silently wished he could play in this game to fight against Kagawa again.

—————

“You saw that Shiratorizawa still has incredible spikers, but all you have to do is calm down and pick up the ball to get our spikers going,” Ukai said in their last huddle before starting the game. “Get fired up, and make sure you do everything you can to win!”

“Yes, coach!” The entire team shouted. Tanaka, Ennoshita and Nishinoya led the starting players on the floor, followed by Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima and Haku.

On the opposite side of the court, the Shiratorizawa line up consisted of familiar faces Shirabu, Kawanishi Taichi and Goshiki, as well as new starters in second years open spiker Shibata Yu and libero Akakura Kai, and first years: middle blocker Toda Masaki and the giant Kagawa Mamoru, who took over the opposite position from Ushijima.

As winners of the coin toss, Karasuno decided to serve first, which let Kageyama be the first server of the match.

“Let’s go, killer serve!” Hinata gleefully cheered.

Kageyama readied himself for his jump serve. Shiratorizawa’s libero screams “Powerful serve!” and Goshiki prepares himself and gets down low. Kageyama tosses the ball in the air, and from the get-go, releases a demonic serve directly at Goshiki’s area.

With a loud scream of determination, Goshiki leans to his right and bumps the ball almost perfectly. Kageyama loudly lets out a “Tsk” as he lands and walks to his defensive position. The ball arcs almost perfectly towards Shirabu and all the Shiratorizawa spikers are ready and waiting in their positions.

“Eh? He picked up Kageyama-senpai’s serve so easily?” Yoshida reacted from the sidelines.

Shirabu focuses on his form, and tosses the ball in a high arc backwards towards the tall first year, Kagawa Mamoru. Nishinoya watches intensely as Hinata and Tanaka form a double block in front of the spiking first year. He readies himself directly at the path of the gap in the block down the line, just like they did to Ushijima last year. He adjusts accordingly as the first year raises his right hand to spike.

Kagawa Mamoru winds up his body like before and lets it rip. The ball doesn’t even reach Nishinoya as it lands a few inches in front of him and drops with a satisfying boom on the floor. All of the Karasuno players are surprised and the Shiratorizawa team celebrate their first point. He may not be as hard to defend as Ushijima, but this new first year had impressive firepower.

“Sorry!” Nishinoya apologized before anyone could say anything.

“That was intense!” Hinata said in surprise. As he closed out the block, he knew that Kagawa was already going down the line, but he didn’t expect for a bomb like that to be unleased.

“We’ll get the next one!” Ennoshita says confidently as the rest of Karasuno settled into their service receive formation for the next point.

Taiki didn’t say anything, but he was stunned at the first year in front of him. He also noticed that he didn’t move much in that first point. He cursed himself softly then prepared for the next point.

The second year wing spiker Shibata releases a jump floater, but Nishinoya calmly passes it.

Shirabu, who was preparing to dig in the back row, watched out for Karasuno’s pesky attacks. They didn’t seem like they were going for a sychronized attack, but all the spikers were still ready. Of course Shiratorizawa knew that Hinata was still Karasuno’s most difficult offensive threat, but Coach Washijo also warned of Hinata’s presence helping Kageyama dismantle defenses.

Kageyama rose up to do a jump toss, and sets up a backrow attack for their first year cannon, Haku Taiki.

Taiki was surprised. He wanted to spike the ball already, but he didn’t think the set would go to him for the first attack of the day. As if in slow motion, he watched the ball that he knew he had to score a point with. He did his dynamic approach and jumped up to meet the toss. His arm shot up, he lined up his swing, and he swung with all his might with the short stab of an arm swing.

The ball ends up sailing way outside, hitting the wall behind Shiratorizawa’s side of the court. As soon as Haku lands, he lets out a scream, “Ah, I messed up big time!” He scratches his head furiously and messed up his shaggy brown hair.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Ennoshita says, slightly embarrased that their first attack against Shiratorizawa was so off-the-mark.

“Was the set too high?” Kageyama asks robotically to adjust. He wanted to show Shiratorizawa that they also had a new cannon ready.

“No, it was perfect. I was just,” Taiki paused a bit. “I’ll get the next one for sure!”

On the other side, Shirabu whispers to Goshiki, “What a powerful arm swing.”

Goshiki nods, and remarks, “And Kageyama’s still cocky as ever.” _Of course he’d go to their freshman cannon, too_. They walk back to their positions for the next point as Shiratorizawa leads 2 - 0.

Kageyama knew he needed to get the team going. Trailing behind Shiratorizawa would be impossible to deal with. The next serve goes up for him nearly perfectly again, and Hinata zipped behind him to do a quick. As usual with new blockers, Shiratorizawa’s Toda was baited by Hinata and Kageyama tossed a good and fast set to Tanaka, who scores the point emphatically. Tanaka cheers both in delight and to intimadate Shiratorizawa.

Taiki rotates into the front row as Tanaka moves back to serve. He would usually be relieved to spike in the front row, but he could see that he was lined up with another tall first year, Kagawa Mamoru.

Tanaka does a great jump serve going right towards the line, but Goshiki was there again for the receive. “Damn, Shiratorizawa’s so good!” He exclaims in frustration as he wanted to score an ace.

Shirabu knew he couldn’t go back to the first year, as it would mark him as a threat too early on. Luckily, Goshiki was already ready to spike. He tossed to the open as Goshiki went with his improved leap.

Goshiki aimed for a cross court shot, ready to shock Karasuno’s first year. He hit the ball and was surprised as Hinata caught up for the block and the spike from Shiratorizawa’s ace ricochets to the back, where Nishinoya was ready to scoop it up.

Haku was still reeling from his mistake in the first rally, but he readied himself as Kageyama set up a syncronized attack as all of them moved in first tempo. What he didn’t expect was the ball being tossed in his direction again.

Shiratorizawa’s block doesn’t waste any time, and despite the fast approach, two blockers already rose up to block Taiki’s spike. They covered the path of a straight, so Taiki knew he could just unleash his cross court attack that he was more comfortable with anyway. He put his arm up again right behind his head, and let his short and powerful stab of a swing hit the ball crosscourt.

Goshiki was ready to dig up the ball of Karasuno’s powerful first year, but the ball went above his head and sailed wide. The linesman at the end of the court called it out, and Goshiki smirked as his team celebrated the call.

Taiki was flustered, and couldn’t even come up with any words to apologize. Kageyama knew his set was perfect, and he’s seen the first year do those crosscourt spikes with no problem in practice, so he didn’t know what to say either.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Just keep hitting ‘em, Taiki!” Tanaka shouts in encouragement.

Ennoshita claps to get his teams attention and says, “Let’s calm down and score one, okay?” He was adressing the whole team, but he purposefully directed the advice at Taiki, who was now visibly shaken up by his mistakes.

Yachi looked concerned on the side as she tallied another miss on her clipboard.

“Those were two good opportunities already,” Ukai said to Takeda and Yachi on the bench. “It’s so obvious he’s pressured by the mighty Shiratorizawa.”

“We’ve had practice matches before, but Haku-kun does look a little stiff today,” Takeda replied.

After a simple serve from Shiratorizawa, Tanaka receives the ball well and Kageyama felt a presence zipping past him. Hinata was aching for a set already, and was coming in quickly right in front of him. Hinata immediately leaps up high in the air with a massive jump. Kageyama lines up the attack and shoots the set to Hinata, who spikes the ball before any Shiratorizawa blocker could reach it.

“Nice, Hinata, Kageyama!” Ukai shouted. The Shiratorizawa defense on the other side looked annoyed.

“Don’t worry about messing up, Haku-chan! I’m here to be Hinata, your reliable senior!” Hinata gleefully cheers, looking directly at Haku.

Tanaka grinned at the side and shouted, “That’s right, Hinata! Show our precious juniors how it’s done, Karasuno-style!”

Haku was embarrased, but also relieved that his seniors were making up for his mistakes. The score was 3 - 2, and Karasuno was up to serve. With Tsukishima rotating to the front row, they had a better chance at defending in this rotation.

Hinata simply serves it to the other side, and the Shiratorizawa libero calmly passes it directly to Shirabu. Tsukishima observes Shirabu, but the setter’s calm demeanor and improved form made it difficult for Tsukishima to react quickly.

At the last moment, Shirabu sends the set backwards to Kagawa. He knew this was a declaration of war between the first years, as Taiki rose up to block Kagawa. Tsukishima caught up, and Kagawa hit the ball hard enough to make the ball ricochet to the back, where Tanaka scoops it up. Shirabu was annoyed at the all-too-familiar pesky blocking of Tsukishima.

The Karasuno spikers start running up again for a synchronized attack. “Give it to me!” Hinata screams as he readies for a first-tempo back attack that made the Shiratorizawa team all wary. But, as all the attention shifted to Hinata, Kageyama sneered and set a fast one to Haku.

 _The first year again?_ Shirabu thought, annoyed that Kageyama had no fear at all tossing to someone who’d messed up twice.

Haku was surprised at the third set up for him, even after two failed hits, but he took on the duty. He was glad Kageyama’s set and Hinata’s decoy gave him plenty of options, so as he rose up, he could watch the ball carefully. He wound up his arm again and quickly slammed the ball down into the middle of the Shiratorizawa court.

Kagayama clenched his fist in delight, and Haku cheered for his first point in the match to tie the game up. The Shiratorizawa players were all stunned at the powerful attack that landed inches away from the attack line on their court.

“That’s right! Karasuno-style!” Tanaka screamed as he pat his junior on the back a little too hard. Tsukishima rolled his eyes at the side as Taiki looked exactly like he did a year ago as their seniors doted on the tall freshman.

“Tsk,” Taichi loudly exclaimed, frustrated that Karasuno’s #10 baited him again. “Can’t believe I have to keep up with a monster again.”

Haku breathes a sigh of relief. He was glad he got one in, but he knew he had to make up for the mistakes he had beforehand.

Hinata makes another safe serve, and this time Shiratorizawa’s other wing spiker Shibata calmy receives it.

Shirabu goes back to their first year Kagawa and the giant swings the ball cross court, only for Kageyama to calmly dig up his ball. “Yes,” Kageyama said under his breath as the ball goes up towards the middle, where Tsukishima was already ready to set.

Tsukishima tosses the ball to Ennoshita, whose spike gets caught up by Taichi’s hand. The ball ricochets up and Shiratorizawa’s libero bumps it to Shirabu, who goes for a quick set to Taichi to try and surprise the Karasuno defense.

Tsukishima read Shirabu’s set perfectly, and he blocks the ball back to Shiratorizawa to Taichi’s dismay. Luckily, Kagawa was at the right spot for a dig, and he brings the ball up in a low arc to Shirabu.

 _Yes, they can’t go back to that tall cannon_ , Ukai thinks as he watches the rally become intense.

Due to Kagawa’s clumsy save, the Shiratorizawa play ends up a high toss to Goshiki, who was a little dazed by the height of the set. He still manages to hit the ball, but it was dug up by Tanaka this time, who was glad that Goshiki couldn’t put too much power on the spike.

The rally was getting long, and Kageyama knew that he had to run a play to surprise Shiratorizawa. He was a little far from the net, but saw that Tsukishima was still coming in for a quick. He pinpoint tosses the set to Tsukishima’s airspace, who was surprised by the set.

 _Does this guy think I can hit anywhere like Hinata?_ Tsukishima thought as he tips the ball softly over to the Shiratorizawa side. The drop was dug up by Shiratorizawa’s other wing spiker Shibata and went up nicely so Shirabu could run a proper play.

Shirabu knew that Tsukishima was a thorn to his side, and he needed a point to go their way, so in the true Shiratorizawa way, he tosses it to their new ace Goshiki who he trusted to score a point.

Tsukishima knew that at some point, Shirabu would start tossing to their improved ace. He readied the double block and the rest of the Karasuno defenders followed suit.

Goshiki rose up and looked like he would go to his specialty, an intense down the line shot. Goshiki cocks his arm back and right as he looks like he’s about to rip it, he takes all the steam off and tips the ball to the middle of Karasuno’s court, hoping to catch the Karasuno defenders off-guard.

Tsukishima was frustrated, as he had read Goshiki’s play perfectly and even timed the block properly for the improved hangtime Goshiki had. Tanaka and Kageyama, who were in position to dig a powerful spike from the ace, were also frozen in place as they watched Goshiki’s ball drop.

Goshiki already had a big grin on his face when in a flash, Hinata dives for the ball. The ball goes up, but it was extremely off from Kageyama’s position, drifting out of the right side of the court.

Seeing the ball go awry, Kageyama runs fast and manages to get himself under the ball just in time to set up a far but high set to Haku on the extreme left side.

 _Kagayema’s insane!_ Taichi thought as he ran to block Karasuno’s talented freshman.

Taichi completed the block in time, but Haku knew he had a golden opportuinity to just slam the ball down like he did in the last play because of the options Kageyama’s set gave him in the air. He swung with his powerful short jab again, aiming to cut the ball for the down-the-line finish this time.

He swung, and the ball lands on the line almost miraculously.

The Shiratorizawa defense were all frustrated, especially the first year Kagawa who thought he’d completely covered the other first year’s spiking zone with his long arms in the block.

“All riiiiiiii—“ Tanaka was already in mid-air cheering for his freshman teammate when a sharp whistle cut the air and all the players looked at the direction of the referee who signaled the ball out. The referee gestures to the linesman, who was waving his flag rapidly in the air.

“Out?!” Imai Shinji shouted out from the bench, with adrenaline still obviously pumping through his veins from the intense rally that just happened.

“Wha- What happened?” Yachi asks Coach Ukai.

With his fingers rubbing his forehead, Ukai explains, “When Haku hit the ball, it hit the antennae on the side of the net.” True enough, the antennae at the side of the net was still waving from Taiki’s attempted hit. “Don’t mind! It was a good hit!” Ukai screams at his first year, making sure he knows that it was still a good play.

Taiki was visibly becoming frustrated and was halfway though bowing to apologize again when Hinata blurts out, “Haku-chan’s line shot was so good…” in his annoyed, competitive tone. Taiki was stunned at the compliment.

Ennoshita walks over to the first year and says, “Good job spiking that far set.” Haku was getting in the zone, albeit all his mistakes, and Ennoshita thought that it was more important to keep his mind off his mistakes instead of coddle his every move right now.

Taiki looked around and the players from both Karasuno and Shiratorizawa had finally broken a sweat in the game, all of them breathing their first heavy breaths of the day. Taiki focused his eyes on Kageyama, who had been calm and collected this whole match. As he walked back to their huddle, he had a wicked smile on his face. He was totally into this match.

“Oi!” Kageyama screamed towards Hinata. “Get the ball up higher next time!”

“I ran as fast I could,” Hinata retorted, annoyed.

“You run faster than that when you want to spike,” Kageyama throws back.

As the two argue, the teams walk back to their places, and the air is tense but the mood is oddly serene. From the sidelines, Imai Shinji could sense that the entire court was only thinking about this match. Even Kageyama and Hinata, who were still audibly arguing, were focused on the match. He enjoyed the competitve atmosphere, but was still worried for his best friend Haku. He hadn’t flashed a smile at all since the game started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long. There were complications in my set-up due to COVID-19, and I hadn't gotten around to writing as much as I wanted to. As a volleyball player myself, it was also important for me to make sure player rotations and positioning were all spot-on in my writing, which also contributed to the long writing time. I'm sorry, and hopefully I can get back on track to posting new chapters every few weeks!
> 
> Author's update: Cut the chapter into two chapters because it was so long. Sorry, this is my first fanfic.


	3. Powerhouses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The match is in full swing, and Karasuno and Shiratorizawa are showing off their best offenses and defenses in the game. Who's taking the first set?

The entire set was competitive, with each team exchanging leads as offenses tried to outsmart defenses, and defenses wore offenses down. Haku Taiki was still a literal hit-or-miss, while the seniors on the team displayed Karasuno’s brand of pesky offense. Shiratorizawa was playing skillfully, and Goshiki and their powerful first year Kagawa were a troublesome 1-2 punch that tirelessly broke down the Karasuno defense.

The score was 19-all, and a quick hit from Taichi was just dug up by Nishinoya. He apologized to Kageyama for the short ball as Kageyama moved to adjust.

“Tanaka-san!” Kageyama shouted as he put up a ball perfectly for his senior. The ball was almost perfect, and Tanaka came in with great form and unleashed his killer cross court hit. He thought he had a sure point, but Goshiki dug up the ball on the other side.

“What the-,“ Tanaka was completely stunned as he readied himself to block the counterattack.

Goshiki smirked as he fluidly went from his digging position into a spiking approach. The quick transitionary motions made it difficult for Tsukishima to catch up with the ball Shirabu had already set to the Shiratorizawa ace. As Goshiki rose up for the kill, he was raring to show off his signature down-the-line hit, so he wound up his arm and unleased all his power on the ball.

A loud smack was immediately followed by a stifling thud and the sound of the ball hitting the floor powerfully. Goshiki lands on the floor and realized the ball was behind him. His perfect spike was blocked by Kageyama, who was still staring through the net.

Goshiki felt dejected, but immediately turned to Shirabu and blurted out, “I’ll score the point next time!”

“Don’t get too cocky,” Kageyama immediately responds. Goshiki and Shirabu’s annoyance turned into anger as the two turned back and got ready for the next rally.

“Kageyama, nice block.” Tanaka shouted and went for a high five, which Kageyama weakly accepted. The Karasuno team pulls ahead 20-19.

“Nice block, Kageyama,” Ennoshita says with a smile as he approached the setter. He looked pleased until he jut out his hand and karate chopped Kageyama’s side. “Don’t start any fights,” he then said menacingly.

Kageyama had the air sucked out of him, but when he recovered he stared at Shiratorizawa’s ace.

“Kageyama,” Hinata commented to Yamaguchi from the sidelines. “He’s in scary mode again today.”

The Karasuno setter looked focused, but a wrinkle on his forehead suggested he’d wanted to end this game quickly.

“Rumor has it is that Shiratorizawa’s ace and Kageyama fought in the national training camp,” Yamaguchi tells Hinata.

“I didn’t know Goshiki was part of the national training. He was in the prefecture’s first years one last year,” Hinata replies.

“The training was a bigger one. The one a few months ago only had about 20 people. This one had about 70, which is why Goshiki was able to go,” Yamaguchi explains as Shiratorizawa scores a point off a quick from Taichi.

“So I’m not even good enough to be part of a 70-person national training camp,” Hinata remarked, a little annoyed.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t try to sneak into that one,” Yamaguchi snidely comments as the other seniors near them giggled.

In the match, Kageyama sets Tsukishima for a quick that he puts away emphatically.

“That’s my cue,” Yamaguchi says to Hinata as he confidently jogs toward the sideline and raised up a paddle with the number 8 to sub Tsukishima out so he can serve.

As the referee whistles for the serve, Yamaguchi calmly preps his jump floater and hears Tsukishima yell from the bench, “Nice serve.”

He dribbles the ball twice, lines it up in front of him, and goes directly into the serve. The ball was still as it drifts towards Goshiki. _Perfect target_ , Yamaguchi thought to himself.

Goshiki puts his arms up, knowing a jump floater was best received with an overhead pass. The ball makes contact with his fingertips, but it was higher up than he thought, resulting in the ball to go up high but behind him. Shiratorizawa libero Akakura raced back, picked up the ball and sent it toward Shirabu, who had no choice but to give Karasuno a chance ball.

Karasuno was ready for the chance ball. After a good bump from Ennoshita, they all go into an approach for a synchronized attack. Kageyama calmly takes the ball in his hands, and sets it for a first tempo back attack by Taiki.

Taiki was nervous, as this was his first back attack since his flub earlier. He spiked the ball carefully, but this care resulted in a weak spike that went directly to the arms of Goshiki on the other side, who let out a satisfied scream on the other side after making a successful dig. Taiki landed and let out a huge sigh as he readied himself for defense.

Kageyama was irked that the first year didn’t spike the ball hard as his set was perfect, but he had no time to think about that as he was watching the Shiratorizawa counterattack. The perfect dig left Shirabu with multiple options, but none of their real offensive powerhouses were on the front row. Right as the ball got to the setter, Kageyama heard a scream from the other side.

“Give this one to me, Shirabu!” Kagawa screamed from the back. Shirabu didn’t like the first year’s harsh tone, but gave it to him anyway. Kagawa went up for a back attack from the right side, and he launched a strong ripper down-the-line. The power was resounding, but what he didn’t expect was Karasuno’s pinch server to be there immediately to pick up his powerful spike.

 _Serving isn’t my only weapon anymore,_ Yamaguchi thought to himself as the ball went up in a nice arc near Kageyama’s preferred setting spot.

“Nice dig, Yamaguchi!” Hinata screamed as he ran to the middle of the net and leapt up incredibly high. Kageyama then delivered his ultra quick set, and Shiratorizawa had no chance defending the monster quick.

“Wow, that was incredible!” Takeda couldn’t contain his amazement on the bench.

“Yamaguchi has been putting extra effort when they practice defense,” Ukai told him, proud at how his team handled that point. “Now if he can’t score on an ace, he can participate in a defense and we can counterattack.”

Yamaguchi smiled as he went back to the service deck. He’d trained so hard with Nishinoya and even Hinata over the past few months to get his defense up to par. He admitted that it was lucky the tall guy from Shiratorizawa hit directly towards him, but at least he wasn’t blown away by the power.

He did his serve routine again and this time the ball sank right before it got to Goshiki.

Goshiki was incredibly annoyed as he dived for the ball, which went up but was another chance ball for Karasuno. From the floor, he could hear Kagawa let out a small complaining grunt as he readied for defense.

Karasuno wasted no time on this chance ball again, as Hinata runs right behind Kageyama for a quick hit. Tanaka was also coming in from the left, and Taichi decided he wasn’t going to fall for Hinata’s decoy again and ran to stop him.

All of Shiratorizawa’s defenses were fooled though, as Kageyama calmly dumps the ball to the other side on the second touch. The entire Karasuno team cheered, and Kageyama sneaked in a wry smile at Shirabu on the other side, taunting the Shiratorizawa setter.

“Tsk. He thinks he’s top dog in the prefecture now that Oikawa’s graduated,” Shirabu commented, seamingly to no one.

“Is he cockier than before?” Taichi asks in response to Shirabu’s off-hand comment.

“He’s just doing it to rile me up,” Goshiki responds, knowing that Kageyama’s being more annoying than usual to send a message to him.

—————

At the national training camp in Tokyo, Goshiki excitedly participates through all the drills and practice matches. During one of their breaks, he walks down the corridor and overhears coaches talking around the corner.

“The recruits this year are fantastic, aren’t they?”

“It’s a gifted generation, that’s for sure!”

“I’m most impressed by Kageyama from Miyagi. I wasn’t buying the genius setter title people gave him, but he’s almost like a machine!”

“Yeah, too bad he’s the only Miyagi talent from his year I’m keeping an eye on for now. That kid from Shiratorizawa’s still a little too clumsy and error-prone. He isn’t as consistent as the other spikers from his year. Maybe the great Shiratorizawa’s finally lost its luster.”

When he heard those comments, his sadness turned into anger quickly. He thought he’d improved miles from the year before. He trained the hardest in his team. He spiked as many balls as he needed to even get close to the form Ushijima showed him how to do. He inherited the title of ace of the mighty Shiratorizawa High School, and yet he was still not enough.

There was one practice match left before the end of the training camp, and both Kageyama and Goshiki happened to be on the same team for it.

Kageyama was a setting robot, and Goshiki was jealous that he was getting praise even from older players from lots of other powerhouse schools.

In an early play, Kageyama set up a perfect ball for Goshiki. Goshiki rose up and mustered all his might to spike it, but it was blocked emphatically by the other side.

Goshiki landed and fell to his knees, mostly as an emotional response. Kageyama tried to help him, but Goshiki rejected his extended hand and stood up by himself, and blurted out, “Give me faster tosses.”

Kageyama was stunned, and replied, “But I thought you preferred —“

“Just do it!” Goshiki said a little too loudly.

Kageyama didn’t understand why Goshiki was so emotional, but he just did what he was told. He set up Goshiki for faster plays, but the spiker’s attacks were still mostly defended, and he visibly struggled the rest of the game. Kageyama was only focused on winning the game, so he stopped tossing to Goshiki and opted for the other spikers who scored points much more consistently.

Goshiki felt sullen. He’d worked so hard to improve, only for his efforts to be ignored by others, and even Kageyama. He wanted to be an ace, but he felt like he was getting in the way instead of contributing to the team.

Near the end of the game, Goshiki had no blockers in front of him, and he thought that he was going to get the set from Kageyama for sure. He hoped for the ball, and he did a perfect approach for a quick attack, only for Kageyama to completely ignore him and drop the ball on the other side to score a point instead.

“Hey, you think you’re so good?! Toss to me!” Goshiki shouted once he landed.

“Huh?!” Kageyama shouted back, now mad at the Shiratorizawa spiker for the sudden outburst.

A senior from another school intervened to stop any fight from happening, but the two were still clearly angry at each other.

—————

In the next play, Goshiki was targeted again by Karasuno’s pinch server. His determination riled him up, but he didn’t let that get the better of him as this time his serve receive was perfect.

Shirabu put the ball up for the other open spiker Shibata, whose spike was dug up nicely by Karasuno’s captain.

With the good receive came the quick zip of Hinata coming in for a quick right behind Kageyama. The set went to him, but his powerful spike was stifled by Taichi’s block. The ball, however, looked like it was going out the left side of Shiratozawa’s court.

Shibata went into action again and saved the ball, but it could not go up to Shirabu’s spot, so the setter chased after the ball and was basically outside the court near the open spiker’s usual area. Shiratorizawa’s system dictates that in these situations, the play should be a high set to the middle of the court, where the open spiker in the backrow would spike. Goshiki was ready to approach, but another scream from Kagawa beside him rang, “Give it to me! I will score!”

At this point, Shirabu knew he needed to give it to the first year for the junior’s self-esteem, despite the incredibly far and out-of-system play he’d have to run for that to happen. He set up the play, and Kagawa Mamoru smashed far set with such force that it flew off Hinata’s block and was too far for anyone in Karasuno to save.

Kagawa screamed in delight alone in the Shiratorizawa side, and Goshiki glared at him. “I scored the point, didn’t I?” The young giant said. He looked at coach Washijo, and the coach didn’t seem upset.

“Tsk,” Goshiki reacted, not even bothering to explain to the first year why his actions were off-base. He was more focused on erasing the defecit they had against Karasuno.

After a safe serve from Taichi, Nishinoya calmly receives and Kageyama set the ball to Hinata again, who had already done his super high jump again right in the middle of the court.

The Shiratorizawa defenders were all set up, and even their first year middle blocker Toda had read the play and rose up in front of Hinata.

Hinata cocked his arm back, but in a fluid change of pace, he softened his arm and dropped the ball right behind the tall Shiratorizawa middle blocker. As the ball fell, all of Shiratorizawa’s players dived for the middle. Hinata landed gracefully and sneered. Karasuno was now at set point.

 _Kageyama on his own is frustrating, but having this shrimp around is just plain annoying,_ Taichi thought as he went to the bench to switch with the libero. Now that Kageyama is coming up to serve, Karasuno has three front row spikers and are going to be an even bigger pain to defend for the rest ofhis team.

Kageyama aims for Goshiki again, as they have this entire game. Goshiki does well to receive it, almost too well to send signals to Kageyama that he wouldn’t be backing down from their feud.

Shiratorizawa needed to score a point, and when you need to score a point, you go to your ace. Just like before, Goshiki goes directly from the ground to receive the ball into a graceful spike approach. Shirabu didn’t even think about where to set the ball, as he placed the ball up high for the already airborne ace.

Goshiki faced a triple block in front of him, but none of that mattered to him as he unleased a back attack that hit the deepest corner of the Karasuno court, directly behind Kageyama.

“Are you serioues? Exactly at the corner from the backrow?” Tanaka exclaimed. The accuracy stunned the entire Karasuno team, and Goshiki didn’t even bother basking in his glory as he just cheered himself on and celebrated with his team.

Kageyama showed his stress with the wrinkles on his forehead. Goshiki was playing on a level that rivals some of the best open spikers he’d encountered so far, and yet in the training camp he didn’t show this much technique. He was still angry at him, but if he was this good, he’d wondered why it was only showing up now. More importantly, he didn’t want to lose to him. He quickly analyzed all his options, and thought of the most unexpected play so that Shiratorizawa had no chance at defending. He walked up to the first year Haku and whispered a play in his ear. “Can you do it?” he asked coldly.

“Uh,” Taiki didn’t know whether saying yes and messing up was worse than saying no. He looked at Kageyama’s face, and he wasn’t even looking at Taiki. He was just staring directly at Shiratorizawa, who were getting ready to serve. He finally answered with a relucatant, “Yes, I guess?”

“No matter what, keep the play. I’ll get it to you,” Kageyama said confidently as he walked into position.

Taiki realized that this was the first time Kageyama set up a play with him different from their usual. He was happy, but felt the pressure. As he readied himself to receive, he thought intensely about the how much he needed to score with Kageyama’s play.

Behind Taiki, Shinji watched and realized that Kageyama was up to something that involved his best friend. He trusted his seniors and believed that they were all doing their best to win, but he was still worried for Taiki.

Shirabu goes for a jump floater, and aimed for a troublesome spot: right between Taiki and Nishinoya. In these situations, Nishinoya would usually step in and receive the ball. Nerves got the best of Taiki, though, as he stepped towards the ball at the same time as Nishinoya, and the two clumsily hesitated before Nishinoya ultimately awkwardly receives it with an underhand pass.

The ball doesn’t fly towards the right side where Kageyama was waiting for it, but flies to the left side in a low arc.

 _No matter what, keep the play. No matter what, keep the play. No matter what, keep the play._ Kageyama and Taiki both had these words ringing in their head, but both had dilemmas. Taiki didn’t have enough room to run up properly for the backrow attack, and Kageyama had to run and could only set up a play with an underhand bump.

 _No matter what keep the play._ Taiki had no intention of disobeying his senior and their setter, so he ran up with what little space we had for what looked like a nonsensical quick back attack.

The rest of Karasuno still ran up for their attacks, like they usually do.

“What the—“ Kagawa Mamoru thought on the other side as he watched the Karasuno first year run up from the back. Their defenses were nowhere near ready for a backrow attack that fast.

Kageyama saw the freshman continue with the play with his peripheral vision as he dashed for the ball. _No matter what, keep the play._ He almost regretted his words, but he did his best and bumped the ball in a low arc towards the middle of the court, where Taiki was rising up to meet it.

Shiratorizawa’s defense tried to shift as fast as it could. Taiki was already in the air though, and he barely had time to worry about the Shiratorizawa defense as he needed to hit the quickly set up ball that Kageyama had somehow set up nearly perfectly even after the poor reception.

He cocked his arm back and swung as hard as he could. The sound of his hand hitting the ball was strong, but right after that sound dissipated, a flutter reverberated in the air. The ball had hit the tape of the net.

The force of the ball was strong enough to make the ball hop over to the Shiratorizawa side, where the scramble to defend a hard backrow attack became a flurry to catch the ball that was dramatically falling towards the hole in the middle of all of them.

The ball drops, and confusion stuck in the air for a second before it was cut by Hinata’s, “Alriiiiiiight!”

Taiki stood frozen after his landing, but Tanaka and Nishinoya were already running towards him to give him either a hug or a tackle — he didn’t really know which. The scoreboard was flipped and Karasuno won the set, 25-22.

Getting up from the ground, Goshiki clenched his teeth and was appalled at the crazy attack that Karasuno just pulled off.

“There’s no way that just happened,” Kagawa said angrily. The rest of the Shiratorizawa team was in mixed states of confusion, frustration and amazement as they stared at the team on the other side, where the rest of the Karasuno team was celebrating behind Kageyama, who was staring coldly at Goshiki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally posted this as the second half of chapter two, but I decided to make this into chapter three for readability.


	4. The New Shiratorizawa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second set of Karasuno and Shiratorizawa's practice match raises the stakes! Can Karasuno end this or will Shiratorizawa finally return to champion form?

The Shiratorizawa side was disheartened as they huddled up around their coach after the competitive first set. They were prepared for Coach Washijo’s tirade, especially since the demon coach kept to himself the whole first set. Goshiki and Shirabu braced themselves, as they usually endured the most scolding.

“Karasuno,” Washijo started in a calm, straightforward tone. The whole team relaxed after one word. They were expecting screams. “Karasuno is strong. They are riding high and are confident, as most teams are after being on the national stage.” The coach’s face was serious, but it was far from his usual dynamic and loud demeanor.

The team listened as they recalled how confident Kageyama was in all his impossible plays, how their shrimp middle blocker zipped across the court without a care, and how easily the libero picked up even their strongest hits.

“But,” the coach continued, catching everyone’s attention, “This team is also strong. Don’t forget that.” The team was stunned. Washijo always pinpointed their shortcomings as players and as a team, so hearing him give a compliment came as a welcome surprise. The gloomy mood surrounding the team was lifted.

“Now, warm up for the next set,” Washijo said as a final order to the squad. The team broke up as they drank water and wiped themselves down. 

As the Shiratorizawa ace was drinking water, he heard his name shouted out loud, “Goshiki!” The coach was calling him over. He thought he’d escaped his wrath, and now his nerves were back and he slowly walked to the coach, expecting a flurry of criticisms. “Yes, coach,” he said in a low voice, trying not to look at Washijo in the eyes.

The coach didn’t speak for a few seconds before finally blurting out, “Give them hell.”

The words reverberated throughout his body. He was already trying his best in the game, but it felt like it wasn’t enough. He knew that his coach saw the effort and skill he put in, so knowing that Washijo trusted him enough to do even more pumped him up. He was ready for the next set. Revitalized, he ran back to his teammates

“This match is about conquering,” Washijo speaks up again, seemingly to no one, but his assistant was listening by his side. “Conquering the match to take control of the momentum Karasuno builds up when they get their spikers going, but also conquering their fears. Their match against Karasuno last year was meaningful, and it was followed by Ushijima’s departure. These kids need to get over the feeling of loss against Karasuno, and uphold the winning tradition of Shiratorizawa.” 

—————

On the Karasuno side of the bench, the team were rehydrating as the bench players and Yachi handed out towels. Haku silently stood next to Imai Shinji, who knew Haku wasn’t up to talk just then. The freshman started looked like he was thinking, and the big smile that usually adorned his face while playing volleyball was nowhere to be found, replaced by a puzzled poker face.

Hinata was energetic as ever, talking with the other second years. “That first year really went woop! And his spikes really went babam!” As he was narrating, Yamaguchi was the only one reacting. Kageyama didn’t feel like listening to Hinata because he was still thinking about Goshiki’s sudden jump in skill. He wasn’t lying when he said Goshiki was impressive already, because he knew he already had improved form and power. What changed in Goshiki wasn’t physically, but just his disposition as he played, which translated into calm and precise skill. If he’d known that Goshiki could be this levelheaded, maybe they wouldn’t have fought back then in Tokyo.

After a few minutes replenishing their energy, the team gathered around their coach. “You guys did well containing the two dangerous wings of Shiratorizawa,” Ukai began explaining. “As with all teams, they’re still getting used to our attacks, so we just have to work harder in this next set to find holes in their defense.”

“Kageyama,” the coach called out. “Make sure to keep distributing the sets well.”

“Got it,” Kageyama responded.

“Besides that, just continue to be active on defense. Shiratorizawa’s well warmed up now and will be coming at you with all they have now,” Ukai wrapped up, and the whole Karasuno team cheered as they broke up and the players returned to the court.

—————

As Shirabu walked to the court, he was still on a high after the short yet uplifting message their coach set them off with. Analyzing their plays from the previous set, he’d been stiff in setting up plays. Simple is best, but to beat Karasuno, he knew that he had to proactively find plays to tear Karasuno apart. They didn’t have Ushijima to break down walls or find miraculous openings by himself anymore, so he had to create those opportunities for his spikers.

He was up to serve first, and with a fresh mindset, somehow the court opened up in his vision. He could see clearly, and he knew where to serve first. The referee blew his whistle and he immediately tossed the ball and served it where Kageyama would come running for the backrow.

The serve was received by Tanaka on the other side, although a bit short. Kageyama backed up and had to toss an emergency set to Ennoshita on the left side. He faced a double block, and his attack was deflected upwards by Shiratorizawa’s first year middle blocker.

Goshiki bumped the free ball and Shirabu felt like he had all the time in the world. Their first year giant Kagawa had done his job of attracting attention in the first set, so Shirabu tossed a good and well-placed open set to Shibata, their other open spiker. Hinata was late to the block, which resulted in a good cross-court kill and a point for Shiratorizawa.

In contrast to the first set, Shirabu felt at ease in this second set. Shiratorizawa is still strong, and it was about time he remembered that.

He served again to the same spot, and Tanaka received it better this time. Hinata ran down the middle and Kageyama tossed a quick set, hoping to get their offense going already. Unfortunately for them, Toda from the other side gets in front of the spike again, and deflected it for a free ball again for Karasuno.

The libero bumps the ball to Shirabu, who goes quickly to the first year Toda again, who smashed the ball down hard to the Karasuno court. The two high five as the team celebrates another point.

_Shiratorizawa might not get all the powerhouse spikers, but they still always manage to get some great, foundationally-sound players,_ Ukai thought on the sidelines.

Shirabu’s third serve in a row goes to the same place, and Tanaka receives it perfectly again. Kageyama gives it back to Tanaka on the right, but his spike gets deflected again by Shiratorizawa’s first year middle blocker.

Kageyama’s forehead wrinkled in annoyance, and Shirabu smirked on the other side. _We have our own annoying middle blocker now, by the way, he thought._

As Shirabu gets under the ball to set, Kagawa Mamoru comes in from their right and starts screaming, “Give me the —“. 

Right as he was about to finish his sentence, Goshiki overpowers him from the back and screams, “Shirabu!”

_The ace awaits._ Shirabu tosses the ball high to the middle for a backrow attack. Goshiki approaches and sees he is faced with a three blockers in front of him. He sneers as he jumps up to meet the ball and right before his hand hits the ball, he stops its momentum just enough for the spike to be a dink.

The ball crosses the net as the Karasuno blockers were already going down, and it lands right behind them, where their defenders couldn’t even react quickly enough to dive for the ball. Goshiki’s sneer hasn’t come off his face as he stands proudly in front of a baffled Karasuno team, boasting the 3-0 run Shiratorizawa starts this set with.

————— 

The second set became a game of catch-up for Karasuno. They were never behind more than three points, but they didn’t tie the game at any point. The rallies were shorter, and unlike the year before where Shiratorizawa scored points through sheer force, they forced one-touches on the block, scooped up the ball well and put the ball down with a lot of finesse. Only Kagawa Mamoru scored through force.

The score is 13-11, with Haku Taiki up to serve for Karasuno. “Haku-kun, nice serve!” Hinata yells from the bench. Haku holds the ball firmly with two hands, tosses it high in the air, and simply smashes it with a spin. The ball flies fast, but gets caught by the tape of the net and doesn’t make it to the Shiratorizawa court.

“Wah!” Haku lets out a childish scream and scrunches up his hair in frustration. _That makes it 8? or 9?,_ he thought to himself as the Shiratorizawa score goes up one again because of his error.

“Don’t mind, don’t mind!” Ennoshita screams out and gives leaves his hand out for a low five for Haku. The freshman lightly taps his hand before walking back to his defensive position.

“Karasuno’s new addition has much potential, but he still has ways to go,” Shiratorizawa’s assistant coach tells Washijo.

“I wonder if Ukai knows that an unpolished diamond is worth less than gold,” he replies back, watching over Goshiki.

As Kageyama walks to his defensive position, he watches the Haku’s face and senses frustration. _Haku’s still not 100%, Tsukishima and Tanaka are both being checked at the net, maybe it’s time to shake things up,_ he thinks to himself. On the other side of the net, Shirabu watches Kageyama.

Goshiki launches a ripper of a serve, and aims right in between the Karasuno freshman and their captain.

Ennoshita and Taiki could both reach the serve, and both hesitate before Ennoshita picks it up poorly. _Damn, I should’ve gotten under that one,_ Ennoshita thinks and yells “Cover!”

Nishinoya was the only person who could reach Ennoshita’s errant receive so he bumps it to Tanaka’s spiking zone as best as he can. “Ryu!”

Tanaka didn’t have many choices, but he knew the cross court was his best bet at even safely returning the ball.

Taichi knew that Karasuno’s open could only hit it his way, so he raises up his arms to purposely leave the cross court shot open, only to shift his hands to the side to block Tanaka’s spike. 

The ball ricocheted off his hand and was going to land in an empty spot on Karasuno’s court, but a voice came in yelling, “Rolling thunder!” Before anyone knew it, Nishinoya’s hand had gone under the ball and it was now flying towards Kageyama’s zone. Nishinoya steps out of way as the entire Karasuno was now launching a synchronized attack.

As all of Karasuno’s spikers were running, ready to attack, Kageyama raises up his hands, looking like he is going to set, before flicking his left wrist to drop the ball down to Shiratorizawa’s court. He smiled at the thought of surprising Shiratorizawa, but in a heartbeat, his ball was picked up. 

Shirabu didn’t even prepare to block one of Karasuno’s spikers. He was ready, perfectly in position to pick up Kageyama’s drop ball. Kageyama was angry. He thought he’d fooled Shiratorizawa and outsmarted them, but it turns out he was completely figured out.

Shirabu’s dig got the ball in the air, and Shiratorizawa’s libero Akakura swiftly takes off behind the attack line to set up a play to Goshiki from the back.

_We are strong. Shiratorizawa is strong, Today, Shiratorizawa is stronger than Karasuno!_ Shiratorizawa’s ace enjoyed the perfect set up and drills the ball hard, blasting away to his left where Ennoshita could not get into position in time to dig the ball so it flies off his forearms.

The Shiratorizawa squad cheers. This was their first four point lead against Karasuno today.

“Agh!” Nishinoya screams, frustrated at how the rally ended. All of Karasuno’s players were stressed out. In that rally, Shiratorizawa outplayed them each step of the way. 

Coach Ukai calls a time-out, and all the players returned to the benches. “Goshiki’s backrow attacks are so cool!” Hinata exclaims as the rest of the players huddle around.

“They’re not the same Shiratorizawa as before,” Ukai begins explaining. “They’re methodical and they don’t just blast through any wall. They tried that in the first set, but they’ve switched things up since then. It looks like they’re trying to distribute the sets so we take our focus off of their ace.”

“And then he just goes to town on us,” Haku adds. His nerves haven’t completely worn off, but he’s been seeing the court better.

“That kid got ten times better than he was last year, and he was already good then!” Tanaka chimes in. “Why didn’t you warn us, Kageyama?”

“Goshiki wasn’t like that in the training camp,” Kageyama replies matter-of-factly. “Plus, it’s not like he’s doing anything out-of-this-world.”

“Kageyama’s right. He’s been playing level-headed, but there’s no reason to be alarmed yet. Just play as you normally do for now. Ennoshita,” Ukai takes control of the conversation and calls out the captain. “Tighten up the service reception so we can set up some offense.”

“Yes, coach,” Chikara dutifully responds. His mind was still full of worry, but he had to show a stoic face to his teammates. As he thought about what he’ll say to his teammates, a slap on his back shocked his whole body.

“Ennoshita! It’s not like you to get so in your head,” Nishinoya gleefully says with a laugh.

“You don’t even have as many first years on court to deal with as Daichi did,” Tanaka joked around.

“You two make up for it,” Chikara complains. He straightens up his back and huddles his team around. “You heard coach. Just stay calm and the points will come. Karasuno!”

“Fight!” The whole team replies and walk back on court.

—————

After Goshiki tosses the ball high for his jump serve, Ennoshita looked carefully immediately began to take a step forward. As he had predicted from Goshiki’s half-baked swing into the serve, the Shiratorizawa ace just bumped the ball with his hand to make the serve drop into what was an empty space in Karasuno’s court. Ennoshita got under the ball and bumped it well to Kageyama’s airspace.

Kageyama glanced at the other side of the court before jumping in the air for the toss. With Tsukishima going in with a proper approach in front of him, the choice was easy. He tossed the ball high right in front of Tsukishima. Taichi read the play correctly, but Tsukishima’s contact point was high enough that he smashed the ball, hitting Taichi’s fingers before it hits the floor.

“Nice hit, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi screams on the sidelines.

“Nice read, Ennoshita!” Kinoshita shouts as well.

Ennoshita grins and gives out both his hands to Kageyama and Tsukishima for the low five, but both of them just stare at him blankly before moving away to their positions for the next point, leaving Ennoshita awkwardly in the middle of the court.

“Don’t worry,” Tanaka said as he slaps Ennoshita’s right hand.

“We got you,” Nishinoya does the same to the left hand before he moves out of the court.

“Why did being captain seem so easy when Daichi did it?” Ennoshita sulks.

As Hinata walks back to court, he cheers, “Oi, Kageyama. Let’s get some points on the board.”

On the other side of the court, Taichi rolls his eyes as he has to deal with the little orange imp.

Tsukki lets out a simple serve, and Shiratorizawa’s libero bumps it well to Shirabu. Taichi runs to his right, going in for a slide attack. Hinata, recognizing that this could be a surprise attack from Shiratorizawa that they’ve only used now, follows Taichi. Shirabu sets to their wing, and Taichi smirks as Hinata was all the way on the wrong side of the court.

Shiratorizawa’s other wing spiker, Shibata, goes in for the spike on a good and fast set from Shirabu. With only Kageyama blocking him, he decided to hit a cross court hit to avoid Kageyama’s long arms. As he spikes the ball, Kageyama’s extends his left arm to his side, where his hand came into direct contact with the ball which fell quickly on Shiratorizawa’s side.

“Huh?!” Shirabu rages as he reacts to Kageyama’s single hand block. Kageyama was a monster already just with his setting skills, and now he pulls off an insane block like that.

“Nice block, Kageyama!” Tanaka shouts in delight.

“N-n-nice block,” Hinata says in a small voice, irritated at how he was so easily baited by Shirabu, which allowed Kageyama to have a highlight block.

The score is 15-13, and Karasuno’s already stifled the momentum of Shiratorizawa with two consecutive points. _Okay, a break is a great start. We just have to keep this intensity up,_ Ennoshita thought to himself.

“Oy! Let’s keep it going from here!” Tanaka screams, with everyone but Tsukki letting out a resounding “Yes!” as a response. Ennoshita wondered why he couldn’t be the one telling his team this.

—————

As Karasuno plays catch up, they catch a few breaks here and there through Shiratorizawa’s errors and their own tenacity. The match was now tied at 23-all, and Ennoshita was up to serve.

_Did this match really have to be this close?_ Ennoshita complained, feeling the pressure. He releases a safe serve, aimed right where Shirabu would run from as the backrow setter.

Nice try, Karasuno captain, Goshiki concentrates on the ball and receives it high directly to the setter’s area. Ennoshita lets out a loud “Tsk” and prepares to go on defense.

Tsukishima knew that this new Shiratorizawa wasn’t as hard to defend compared to when Ushijima was still on their side, but their better balanced offense has made it hard for him to commit to a side when blocking. No one was calling for the ball on the other side, and their setter had three options to choose from. With a perfect receive, they could go quickly through the middle. However, the new and improved Goshiki had been tooling with them all match long. There was also the moster first year cannon on the right. He knew that he had to make the right choice at that moment.

He glances at Goshiki. From the receive, he’d already taken a few steps back and was now running to the net. This quick and fluid motion usually preceeds a satisfying kill. Tsukki leans to his right and even decides to take a tiny, but noticeable step to block Goshiki.

Shirabu sneers. _The old Shiratorizawa would only trust this point to the ace. However, this is a new team, and we have more than one weapon to trust._ He bends his back and tosses a quicker set to the first year, who was already halfway though his jump motion. The first year winds up and slams the ball down the line and blows the unprepared Nishinoya away with a powerful kill.

_A differential attack from the opposite?_ Kageyama was confused and a little jealous. That attack would’ve only worked with a confident, even slightly reckless opposite who had no choice but to trust his setter.

“Alright!” Shirabu screams and high fives both Goshiki and Kagawa. They were at match point.

Ennoshita glanced at Coach Ukai, expecting a time-out, but their coach stood at the side, crossed his arms and yelled, “Alright, calm down! Just get the point back!”

The team nodded, and prepared for Shiratorizawa’s server, who was the first year who’d just bamboozled them previously.

Kageyama’s front line only had Tsukishima and Haku, so he wasn’t necessarily at an advantageous spot. On the brink of losing the set, he knew he had to make plays. With his back to the net, he signalled his two front row spikers with some hand gestures. Haku nodded.

Kagawa serves the ball and Ennoshita scoops it up at the back. To Shiratorizawa’s surprise, Tsukishima ran up right behind Kageyama. _Back quick?_ Toda, their first year middle blocker, thought as he was on the bench.

No, this is a fake, Taichi knew better than to be fooled by Kageyama and Tsukishima. He stayed with Tsukishima as long as he could to bait Kageyama, before immediately shuffling his feet to block Haku. His prediction was correct, and Kageyama set the ball to Haku, whose hit was deflected by Taichi’s hands. 

“Chance ball!” Shiratorizawa’s libero shouted, as the entire team got into position to spike. Tsukishima readied himself, still annoyed that he couldn’t bait Shiratorizawa’s middle blocker.

Shirabu set it up to Goshiki. Now this is where our ace comes in. Tsukishima was still quick to react, and made sure two blockers faced the Shiratorizawa ace.

Goshiki knew that he was facing pesky blockers. He faced the well-formed double block and twisted his arm right before contact to do an extreme cross court. The contact was solid, and the spike speedily drifted to the sideline.

As if from pure animal instict, Nishinoya swings his whole body to his left, and picks up Goshiki’s spike. It wasn’t perfect as it went up almost right in front of him, but it was up. “Cover!” he screams as Kageyama was already on his way to the left side of the court.

Haku readied himself. The receive wasn’t good, so as the open spiker in the front, the ball would probably go to him. He watched Kageyama go up for the ball and readied his approach.

However, the ball didn’t go up for him. Kageyama quickly bent his back and set up Tanaka from the backrow. The set was perfect, and Tanaka smashed the ball as hard as he could to the right.

The ball never crossed the net, as a triple block emerged in front of Tanaka, and Goshiki’s left hand had connected with the ball and the force drove the ball down into the Karasuno court fast enough that no one could’ve picked it up.

“Damn it!”, Tanaka let out as the Shiratorizawa side celebrated taking the set 25 - 23. He got cocky, and didn’t think anyone could block a spike and a play going that perfectly.

Goshiki stares and smirks at Kageyama. He was eager to play the third set.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's update: I changed the name of one of my original characters from Haku Yuudai to Haku Taiki. This is to avoid confusion with all the characters with "yu" in their names, as well as Hyakuzawa Yuudai, if he appears in future chapters. Apologies for the oversight!


End file.
